Canadian singer/songwriter
Sarah Harmer
approaches the music on her third solo release,
I'm a Mountain
, from a more traditional standpoint, bringing in elements of
bluegrass
,
country
, and
boogie-woogie
to her already-established modern
folk
sound. The album was recorded in July 2005 in Toronto after a hiking trip on the Niagara Escarpment in southern Ontario.
Harmer
grew up near the Escarpment, and when she heard about the threat of development there, she and her band decided to hike it to raise awareness over its plight. The song
"Escarpment Blues"
details this problem effectively, presenting the obvious attachment and love
has for this region and her concern over its future (and using great internal rhymes like "we might get a load of stone for the road"), while staying away from eco-friendly cliches. The musicianship on the entire album is fantastic, especially the guitar, which ranges in style from
Lynyrd Skynyrd
-type riffs to
fingerpicking with a
classical
bent.
's lyrics also show this versatility. Topically they deal with many of the same issues folksingers have always sung about, although of course
adds a modern twist, wondering why the woman advertising for Wal-Mart is "laughing so unnaturally," in the title track, and addressing a victim of AIDS in the lovely
"Goin' Out,"
on which her father adds backing vocals.
occasionally falls victim to the folksinger's greatest vice, the overextended metaphor, but for the most part her lyrics are direct and personal without being too sentimental, and her melodies are tuneful and catchy but not too predictable. Her cover of
Dolly Parton
's
"Will He Be Waiting for Me"
retains the hopeful regret that the original has, and the children's
"Salamandre,"
written by her friends
Kate Fenner
and
Chris Brown
, is stunning, highlighting
's clear alto in a way not heard in her folkier songs. Because it is
's voice that her fans want to listen to, and
delivers that perfectly. ~ Marisa Brown